President Obama has a new phrase he's been using a lot lately: “I've got a pen, and I've got a phone.” He's talking about the tools a president can use if Congress isn't giving him what he wants: executive actions and calling people together.

President Barack Obama vowed on Tuesday to bypass a divided Congress and take action on his own to bolster America's middle class in a State of the Union address that he used to try to breathe new life into his second term after a troubled year.

President Barack Obama will announce Tuesday that he is acting unilaterally to raise the minimum wage for new federal contract workers, signaling ahead of his annual State of the Union address that he’ll work around congressional opposition wherever possible this year.

Does Obama have the legal authority to delay the mandate? The Affordable Care Act is quite clear as to the effective date of the employer mandate. “The amendments made by this section shall apply to months beginning after December 31, 2013,” concludes Section 1513.

Famed legal expert and Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz slammed the [D'Souza] prosecution in comments made to Newsmax: “This is clearly a case of selective prosecution for one of the most common things done during elections, which is to get people to raise money for you... If they went after everyone who did this, there would be no room in jails for murderers.”

Republicans claim the Justice Department's investigation of the IRS targeting scandal is “compromised,” after revealing that it's being led by one of President Obama's political supporters. In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, the lawmakers said they've learned trial attorney Barbara Kay Bosserman is leading the probe. They detailed federal campaign finance records showing she's given more than $6,000 to Obama's two presidential campaigns — and urged Holder to remove her from the case.

The Obama administration justifies continuing the surveillance program, in part, by pointing to Congress’ continued approval and support. In an effort to win back public trust, Obama has called for some changes that would provide more privacy protections and transparency but not end the program. Clinton, the overwhelming Democratic favorite should she seek the presidency, has been virtually silent on the NSA debate for months.

[Powerline analysis] So for the Obama administration, it’s an easy calculation: 501(c)(4) groups are conservative by a margin of more than six to one, so let’s just knock them all out of action. Doing so will have no impact on the Democrats’ major funding source, the unions, since they are 501(c)(5) organizations.

9. Dems Now Targeting Inspector General Who Spoke Out Against IRS Targeting of Conservatives [IJR]

Ever since Russell George, the Treasury inspector general, filed a report confirming that the IRS targeted conservative groups last year, congressional Democrats have maintained that it was “fundamentally flawed.”

The [stated] purpose of the proposed Federal Communications Commission study is to “identify and understand the critical information needs of the American public, with special emphasis on vulnerable-disadvantaged populations,” according to the agency.

However, one agency commissioner, Ajit Pai, said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece Wednesday that the May 2013 proposal would allow researchers to “grill reporters, editors and station owners about how they decide which stories to run.” He also said he feared the study might stifle the freedom of the press.

These 11 news stories are only among the most alarming signs the Democratic Party is getting increasingly lawless and out-of-control - and they're just from 2014 alone.